Andromeda's Lament
by Vaevictis Asmadi
Summary: As she faces Cerulean Cave, Andromeda regrets.


A wind swept through Route 24. When it swept downward, it rustled tall grass; when it turned upward, it shook tree branches and leaves. As it passed, it roused Spearow from their slumber and made Sandshrew shiver.

On a high ledge facing Cerulean Cave sat a woman and her Garchomp.

The woman felt her auburn hair blow in the wind and sighed. "It doesn't get any easier, does it?" she said, patting her Garchomp on the head. The Garchomp nodded and looked forlornly at Cerulean Cave's base, as though lost deep in thought.

Suddenly, the woman heard a step behind her. She recalled her Garchomp and turned around, holding her Poke Ball.

"Whoa, there!" the stranger said, holding up his hands. "Hold your Ponyta there, lady! I'm not here for a match!"

The woman stood up and put away her Poke Ball. "Sorry," she said. "Reflex."

"Hey, it's all good," the man said. "I was just going to ask you what you were doing here all by yourself."

The woman squinted. "I've got my reasons. You?"

"I'm just…taking a hike, 's all. You looked lonely, so I came up to check."

Silently, the woman sized him up. He was around her age, with short black hair and narrow blue eyes – even from the distance between them, she could tell that he had a good few inches on her. The most noticeable feature of his appearance, though, was the blue baseball cap that he had on backwards. _He's cute_ , she caught herself thinking, _but it's not like I'm_ that _easy_.

"Does the forward approach work with most girls you meet?" she said, smiling despite herself. "It sure isn't working with _me_."

There was a stunned silence as the man took time out to comprehend the bombshell she'd just dropped. Finally, he smiled a guilty smile, scratching the backside of his head. "I was that obvious about it, huh?"

"You aren't exactly winning points for subtlety," the woman said, still smiling.

The man held out his hand. "Jonathan's my name. You?"

The woman walked over, took the man's hand, and gave it a firm shake. "Andromeda. Call me Ann."

"Pleased to meet you, Ann," Jonathan said. "You wanna go down for a bit? It's lonely up here."

Andromeda let go of his hand. "Okay," she said, and followed him as he led her on.

As the two traveled downhill, Jonathan couldn't help but look his new companion up. Andromeda had chin-length auburn hair, wide gray eyes, full lips, and soft features. She wore blue denim jeans and a sleeveless, tight gray crop-top – her bare arms and stomach, while deceptively slim from afar, were hard with muscle. A pair of simple sandals completed the look.

She cocked her head at him. Damn, he'd been caught! "So," he said, quickly trying to divert her attention, "do you come here often? _I_ do."

Andromeda closed her eyes momentarily. "Only occasionally. This place holds…memories for me."

Jonathan nodded. "I see. What kind?"

"I'd rather not share."

"If you insist." Jonathan knew better than to pry, especially with how forlorn she'd looked when he'd met her.

"How about you?" Andromeda cocked her head. "What do _you_ usually do here?"

"Train with Growlithe, mostly. I just got my third badge, and I don't intend on stopping!"

At the mention of his badges, Andromeda's eyes widened. "You're doing the Gym Challenge?"

Jonathan smiled and pointed to himself with his thumb. "Sure am. Wanna see 'em?"

Andromeda took out her Poke Ball again. "I'll do you one better. I want to see how good a Gym Challenger is in battle," she said. "Mind showing me?"

The two stopped – they were at the small hill's base. Around them were other Trainers, some battling, some playing with their Pokémon. Andromeda turned to look at them, then looked back to Jonathan.

"Sure," he said, taking out his Poke Ball and stepping away from her. "Ready when you are."

* * *

Cerulean City's Pokémon Center was, as usual, packed tight with people. Through the windows, the sun's orange glow shone. Andromeda and Jonathan sat next to each other on one of the few available long benches, both covered with a sheen of sweat.

"Your team's got a _huge_ Ground weakness, bud." Andromeda leaned against the bench. "That's a problem."

Jonathan scratched his head, humiliated slightly. "I've gathered," he said, his voice dejected.

"I mean, Fire and Ground are good coverage together, don't get me wrong." Andromeda wrung her hands. "It's just that where your team shines offensively, it lacks defensively. Ground's one of the most common attacking types around."

As Jonathan remembered the Earthquake that had KO'd his Graveler, he winced. "I've gathered."

"My suggestion's to get something that can cover your Ground weakness. Like a Fearow, for instance." Andromeda shrugged. "Not the only option, but hey."

Jonathan shook his head. "If you weren't cute, I'd be _really_ annoyed by now."

"…sorry."

Jonathan just smiled. "It's fine. Just a bit bothered by all the unsolicited advice, is all."

"Yeah." Andromeda hung her head. "I get that a lot."

Jonathan sat up. "Considered stopping? It gets on peoples' nerves, y'know."

"I try."

There was a beat where the two just stared at each other. Finally, Jonathan moved closer to her – she couldn't hear it, but his heart was pounding. "By the way, 'Mack' isn't a bad name for a Garchomp."

"Thanks. Named him after my grandfather."

"How'd you get one, anyway?"

"Safari Zone, back in Johto. I used to be quite the Trainer when I was younger."

"You're from Johto?" he said, leaning forward ever so slightly.

Andromeda nodded. "I did the Gym Challenge too, when I was younger. Then…things changed, so I gave up and went back to school."

"But you battle _now_."

"What can I say? Couldn't help the pull." Andromeda shrugged. "You're one of the few Trainers I've battled with recently."

"Honored to be here for your rebound." Jonathan fished into his bag and took out a PokeGear. "Let's exchange numbers, shall we?"

Jonathan leaned in even closer to hand Andromeda his PokeGear – as he watched her punch in her number, he slung a hand over her shoulder. When she pulled back, her eyes turned to said arm; she just smiled and shook her head.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Andromeda said, turning to him. "I told you that I knew you were hitting on me earlier, didn't I?"

Flustered, Jonathan snaked his arm back to hang at his side. "Sorry. Must've slipped my mind during the battle."

Andromeda's voice dropped an octave. "I'll tell you straight up, Johnny-boy. You're not very good at being subtle."

Jonathan just grinned. "Well –"

That was all he could say before Andromeda slung her arms around his shoulders. " _C'mere_."

* * *

Andromeda woke up later that night in one of the Pokémon Center's rented rooms, her limbs tangled with Jonathan's underneath the sheets. Mack had gone out of his Poke Ball and was staring out the window, straight at Cerulean Cave.

When she surfaced from her bath, clad in nothing but a bathrobe, he was still staring out to the cave. "What are you doing?" she said, snapping her fingers. The Garchomp didn't respond.

Andromeda sighed. "Quincey's gone, Mack." Still, no response.

Instead of admonishing Mack further, Andromeda walked up next to him and stared out to the cave with him. That's when she noticed that he didn't have an expression on his face – he simply stared out, blank-eyed, as if drawn by an invisible force…

Andromeda turned back. "How long have you been awake?" she said to Jonathan.

Jonathan sat up, still naked underneath the sheets. "Long enough."

Andromeda walked over and sat on the bed. "I suppose I owe you an explanation," she said, looking him dead in the eye. She was beautiful, but her beauty took on a lonely quality when framed by the moonlight.

"You don't need to, if you don't want to – "

"'Quincey' was my starter, a Hitmonlee. We tried to clear the Gym Challenge together with Mack over here – " She turned to Mack. " – and we got pretty far, too. Then one day…"

Jonathan just nodded. "I see."

"…It was when we were training at Cerulean Cave that it happened. Out of nowhere, there was a massive collapse, and, well – Quincey didn't make it out." Andromeda bit back tears.

"Ann, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault." Andromeda said.

 _It was mine_ , she thought, as she moved to pin him against the bed and kiss him deeply.


End file.
